Pages

Friday, January 17, 2014

Reading the not-quite-blockbuster books Part 5

Welcome to another semi-regular feature here on Fluttering Butterflies, Reading the Not-Quite Blockbuster books in which I look at some great books (sadly, usually YA books written by British authors) that have had fewer than 50 ratings on Goodreads. I really loved all of these books and I wish that more people would be discovering and loving them!

Undeniable by Liz Bankes (22 ratings)

I'm so shocked that this book hasn't been read and rated more than it has! I loved Undeniable SO MUCH. I loved the characters and the relationships and the way in which the mystery of it all unfolds over the course of the novel. And the ending! I loved that ending so much. Yes, it is a companion novel to Irresistible in that some of the same characters are mentioned but you do not need to read that book in order to enjoy this book. So no excuses! This is such a great book about a girl who, after some turmoil in her own life, takes a chance and finds a job as an intern on her favourite television programme. There's love and drama and TV stars and I love witnessing how Gabi manages to figure out what she wants and what's important in her life. What a great book!

This Northern Sky by Julia Green (25 ratings)

Have you yet discovered the gentle and beautiful writing style of Julia Green as yet? If not, what are you waiting for? This Northern Sky was the first book I'd read by Julia Green so far but it certainly will not be long before I pick up her others. I really fell hard for This Northern Sky. I loved how I felt like I was there alongside our main character, Kate, as she and her family spend the summer on the Hebrides. I could completely relate to Kate's fears for what might happen between her parents as my parents went through this difficult time before their divorce and everything is feeling about her parents was so believable and relate able. And this island! And all of the islanders that Kate befriends made me want to jump on a plane and/or boat in order to spend time in this gorgeous place.

The Name On Your Wrist by Helen Hiorns (40 ratings)

The Name On Your Wrist really made me think and I love when a book does that. Helen Hiorns was the winner of the first Sony Young Movellas Award and I believe the deciding judge for the award was Malorie Blackman. And you have to think, if Malorie Blackman chooses this book as a winner, it kind of has to be good, right? And it is. I really loved the interesting concept of a world in which the name of everyone's soul mate is tattooed on people's wrists and that everyone's goal in life is to find that person who's name is on their wrist. But rather than being a very straight-forward dystopian novel, The Name On Your Wrist brings up really thought-provoking ideas about placing such a large amount of a person's own happiness into the hands of someone else and what happens when things go wrong? And about free will and making different choices and the fairness of the whole system. Plus, it has a pretty shocking ending! Overall, this book has quite a bleak tone to it but it also isn't very long and everything moves at a quick enough pace that I'm pretty sure you could fly right through it in no time...

Monkey Wars by Richard Kurti (37 ratings)

Monkey Wars is one of my favourite books that I discovered last year and despite it being a book that I read a fairly long time ago, it is still a book that has burrowed into my heart and stayed there. I really loved this book. I loved how surprising this book was to me. It's about two groups of monkeys, the Rhesus and the Langur fighting but it's also more than that. Through the two main characters, Papina and Mico, Richard Kurti shows us about politics and war and power and the consequences of war and about propaganda and how terrible things happen and how certain personalities might come into power. This is a book about monkeys but it's also a book about humanity. I really want more people to read this book.

Silent Saturday by Helen Grant (40 ratings)

Silent Saturday is the first book in the Forbidden Spaces trilogy and it is in hardback still which (I'm hoping!) is why it doesn't have more ratings than it does. Silent Saturday is wonderful story about these two teenagers, Veerle and Kris, as they reconnect after many years. When they were both little they witnessed something traumatic and now that they are sort of friends again, Kris initiates Veerle into a secret society that goes about breaking into empty properties. But Kris and Veerle start investigating when some of the members of this group go missing and they start to wonder if they'll be the next target. It's a very thrilling and exciting book to read. I loved the setting of Flemish Belgium, I loved both main characters and I'm dying to read the next book in the series, which thankfully, is being published later this year...

Have you read any of these books? What books have you been reading lately that you wish more people would read and review/rate?

14 comments:

I've only heard of three of these books and not read any of them, which is really sad! It is very fustrating when a good book isn't as popular as it should be. Thanks for the recommendations, Michelle, I'll definitely look out for these :)

Sadly I haven't read any of these, although This Northern Sky sounds brilliant (and the cover's purdy). I love finding 'undiscovered' books to read but I also share your view about it being a shame these books aren't known.Brilliant feature post :D

I've been astonished at how competitive the book market is. It's been a real eye-opener. In the screenwriting world, huge marketing budgets help push shows, but in publishing, word of mouth is far more important. Thank goodness for discerning book bloggers!

I've only read one of these books - The Name On Your Wrist - and I have to say I didn't really like it! Sorry :S I've got Silent Saturday on my shelf though and never really paid it much attention - perhaps because it's HUGE but maybe I'll give that a read some time seeing as you liked it so much :) Great recommendations!

British Books Challenge 2016

Me Me Me

I've been running my book blog, Fluttering Butterflies, for the past (nearly) 9 years and have recently taken up booktubing on my own channel, cloveryness, as well as collaboratively with the Bookish Brits.